The Backlot recently spoke with DAYS OF OUR LIVES co-executive producer Greg Meng to get his take on Chandler Massey's exit from the soap as Will Horton as well as what fans can expect when Guy Wilson debuts in the role early next year.

"There was a lot of accuracy and inaccuracy in the press," Meng said in the interview. "No ugliness, no weirdness. It was all done within the family, with Chandler and everything based on his future plans and based on where we needed to go with the story. I even told Chandler, I said laughingly, 'This is your fault because you've created such an amazing character here and the storyline is so amazing and we've got major places to go with that and we can’t lose momentum.’ He was always fine with that, but he’s got plans. So it all worked out very well. It’s just gotten some misinterpretation out there."

3 comments:

That was some poor reporting and Meng's feet should have been held to the fire.

His explanation doesn't jive with reports of CM's in tears after being told it was his last day. Days has a tradition of an on set cake for an actor on their last day and they always release pictures for publicity. There was none in this case which makes me think his words ring hollow.

CM had already announced he was leaving. I don't fault Days for letting him out of his contract early. You have to account for storylines and you want to lock in the recast before they commit to another job but the way this was done was pretty shabby.

Not too good of a way to treat someone who has brought you two Emmys, something Days rarely receives.

I agree with your comments. If it was a mutual decision then why didn't TPTB give Chandler a chance to say goodbye to his castmates and friends instead of the way they did (no notice at all). Does not feel like they treated Chandler with any respect at all. If that is how they treat "family" I would not want to be a part of that family. I can understand why Chandler wanted to leave at the end of his contract and that should be his prerogative. He wants to finish his education. I know he supported a recast because he believes in the importance of the continuation of the story of WilSon. But the show should have had more respect for Chandler's feelings. Now GM is trying to spin the story and it is not quite accurate in how he is portraying it.

I am glad the WilSon story will continue and am willing to see how Guy Wilson and Freddie Smith handles the situation. I hope they can continue to tell the story and do it justice the way CM and FS has done the past two years.